Recurrent breast cancer care at Mayo Clinic
When breast cancer comes back, it changes the questions you're asking and what you need from your care team. At Mayo Clinic, you'll find doctors who focus on recurrent breast cancer every day. These experts work together to deliver care that's precise, coordinated and tailored to your specific situation.
A breast cancer recurrence can feel more difficult than the original diagnosis. Mayo Clinic care teams understand the uncertainty that often comes with recurrent disease and focus on providing coordinated, compassionate care designed to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
Your Mayo Clinic care team
Your care is guided by a multidisciplinary team of breast cancer experts who review your case together and build a clear, unified plan. Your healthcare team may include doctors across medical oncology, surgery, radiation oncology, imaging and pathology. Instead of navigating multiple opinions across different locations, you get one coordinated approach. Your treatment plan is designed around your cancer, your prior treatments and what matters most to you.
- Care that's connected. Shared medical records and coordination across Mayo Clinic sites allow doctors to collaborate and apply expertise consistently. This connected system helps streamline care and reduces delays or duplicated efforts.
- Experience with complex and recurrent breast cancer. Mayo Clinic cares for a high volume of patients with breast cancer each year, including those with complex and recurrent disease. This gives care teams deep experience in how cancer changes over time and how to adapt treatment accordingly.
Advanced diagnostics to guide treatment decisions
Because recurrent breast cancer can behave differently over time, Mayo Clinic uses advanced diagnostics, including comprehensive imaging and molecular testing, to understand exactly what's driving your cancer now. This allows your team to recommend therapies based on the most current information. It helps avoid treatments that aren't necessary and lets you focus on the options most likely to help.
- Expertise in pathology and tumor profiling. Mayo Clinic pathologists with expertise in breast cancer use advanced lab techniques to carefully evaluate tissue samples. They reevaluate the biomarkers, such as hormone receptor status and HER2 status, which can change over time.
- The latest imaging tests. Mayo Clinic offers a range of advanced imaging technologies, including the latest in positron emission tomography (PET) scans, such as fluoroestradiol (FES) PET to detect advanced estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Mayo Clinic also offers PET scans combined with MRI scans for more-detailed imaging.
Advanced treatment options, including clinical trials
Treatment for recurrent breast cancer often requires a highly individualized approach. Mayo Clinic offers a full range of therapies for local, regional and metastatic recurrence, including options for cancers that no longer respond to standard treatments. Mayo Clinic also brings research directly into care.
- Access to emerging treatments and clinical trials. People with recurrent breast cancer may have access to a wide range of clinical trials and emerging therapies, including targeted treatments and immunotherapies that are not widely available elsewhere. These options are considered as part of your overall plan, not as a separate path, so you can consider the latest advancements from the start.
- Advancing care through breast cancer research. Mayo Clinic doctors and researchers are studying new approaches for recurrent breast cancer, including CAR-T cell therapies, therapeutic cancer vaccines and radiotheranostics.
- Personalized systemic therapy. Treatment options may include estrogen blocker therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and antibody-drug conjugates.
- Precision radiation options. Mayo Clinic offers advanced radiation approaches, including proton therapy, designed to precisely target cancer while helping limit exposure to nearby healthy tissue.
- Specialized care for metastatic cancer. Recurrent metastatic breast cancer can become more complex with each phase of treatment. Mayo Clinic doctors work together to identify thoughtful, personalized options based on the cancer's behavior and your personal goals for treatment.
Support for the whole person
Beyond treatment, your care includes support for the whole person. From managing side effects and protecting quality of life to addressing emotional health and well-being, your care team works with you to create a plan that supports how you want to live during treatment and beyond. Throughout your care, you'll have a dedicated team coordinating every step, so you receive timely answers, clear next steps and a plan you can feel confident in.
In addition to treating the cancer, your care team helps with symptom management, emotional well-being, sexual health, stress management and survivorship concerns. These supportive therapies and services are designed to help you manage the physical and emotional effects of recurrent breast cancer.
Expertise and rankings
Mayo Clinic doctors are widely respected for their expertise and experience in diagnosing and treating recurrent breast cancer and other types of breast cancer.
Outside organizations recognize Mayo Clinic breast cancer specialists through accreditations, grants and rankings:
- Mayo Clinic is one of a select group of medical centers in the United States to be recognized as a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) for breast cancer research, funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. To earn a highly competitive SPORE grant, institutions must demonstrate a high degree of collaboration between first-rate scientists and clinicians and show excellence in translational research projects.
- Mayo Clinic doctors and researchers participate in research cooperatives, such as the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, which gives people with cancer access to the latest clinical trials.
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center meets the strict standards for a U.S. National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center. These standards recognize scientific excellence and a multispecialty approach focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is ranked as the top hospital in Minnesota and Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, is ranked as the top hospital in Arizona.
Locations, travel and lodging
Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.
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Costs and insurance
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.
In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.
Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.
Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.